Protein Requirements for Strength and Power Athletes

Introduction

Possibly one of the longest standing debates in sports nutrition (not that people don’t argue about stuff constantly) is over protein requirements for athletes. Traditionally, there have been two primary and opposing views to this topic.

In the first camp are mainstream nutrition types, usually registered dieticians who maintain that the RDA for protein is sufficient for all conditions, including individuals involved heavily in sports. Their bible, the RDA Handbook mirrors this stance. So what is the RDA? Currently it’s set at 0.8 g/kg (0.36 g/lb) protein per day. For a 200 lb individual that’s a mere 72 grams of protein per day. I bet most of the people reading this eat that at a meal.

As a sub-argument to what I wrote above, some will point out that, even if protein requirements in athletes are higher, since most strength athletes already eat more protein than the supposed requirements, there is no need to worry about it in the first place. That is, strength athletes already consume enough protein and needn’t focus on trying to get more.

At the other extreme are the athletes themselves who have long felt (and therefore argued) that high proteins are absolutely necessary for optimal results. Bodybuilders have traditionally used 1 g/lb (2.2 g/kg) as a baseline recommendation with others taking this level to 2 g/lb (4.4 g/kg) or sometimes even higher. Muscle magazines, usually with a vested interest in moving protein powder tend to promote high protein intakes with claims of athletes eating 800-1000 grams protein per day (a level only achievable with supplementation) being claimed by top bodybuilders.

Who’s Right?

Science nerds like me always want to see the research on the topic. Of course, if you know me at all, you know that I’ve read it all. To say that it’s a bit mixed is an understatement and even researchers can’t make up their damn minds, preferring to hold polite arguments with one another for months in scientific journals.

Some research seems to clearly indicate an increased requirement for protein. But it uses a methodology (nitrogen balance) that is questionable at best, so the low-protein folks will shoot it down.

Other research (done with low intensity aerobic work) suggests that training improves protein retention; that is, as athletes become more trained, their protein requirements may actually go down. But does research with lower intensity aerobic work apply to the kind of training a strength/power athlete is doing? Probably not, so the high protein researchers will shoot that down. Around and around it goes.

Some research (again using a questionable methodology) suggests that athletes need more protein when they start a new or intensified training program but after a couple of weeks, protein requirements go back down. What happens if you’re always pushing your limits day in, day out, week in, week out? Nobody knows.

Of course the impact of anabolic steroids on protein requirements is almost a complete unknown although, empirically, most who would argue that a natural bodybuilder only needs 1 g/lb daily would also argue that someone using anabolics needs about double that to maximize the effects of the drugs.

A final problem is what’s being measured. Athletes want to know what will maximizes their performance, strength, power, speed, throwing, etc. Researchers invariably measure stuff of less relevance to athletes and coaches. Nitrogen balance, amino acid uptake, sometimes actual muscle growth is measured over the length of the study. Is the amount of protein needed to optimize performance different than what’s needed to maximize some aspect of muscular physiology?

An added issue is that solely looking at skeletal muscle may be missing pathways of importance to athletes. Immune system, connective tissue synthesis and a host of other pathways use amino acids; presumably athletes will upregulate those pathways. Meaning that true protein requirements, if you only look at what’s going on in the muscle, may be under-estimating what athletes truly need to maximize every aspect of performance.

The debate rages on and on and I’m not going togo into much more detail here about it. If you want to read about it in seemingly endless detail, I spent an entire chapter addressing both sides of the controversy in The Protein Book.

Sufficed to say that, as is always the case, both sides have their research, both ends of the research can be criticized on some methodological grounds or another and I don’t think researchers are going to stop arguing with one another any time soon.

Reaching a Consensus

And yet, I’m going to tell you how to rationalize all of the above stuff that I imagine most of you skimmed in the first place. Two researchers, named Tipton and Wolfe wrote a cool paper about this argument. In it they first detailed all of the stuff I just bored you with. At the end they gave their recommendations where they basically argued that

We don’t know how much protein is required to optimize all of the potential pathways important to athletes.

We know that a protein intake of 1.4 g/lb (3.0 g/kg) isn’t harmful and may have benefits that are too small to be measured in research

As long as eating lots of protein doesn’t keep an athlete from eating too few of the other nutrients (carbs/fats), there’s no reason to not eat a lot. And there may be benefits.

Essentially, a high protein intake won’t hurt an athlete (basically everything you may have read about the dangers of high protein intakes is nonsense), it may provide small benefits of importance to elite athletes and, at the end of the day athletes and coaches don’t give a shit about pedantic scientific debates over amino acid metabolism that gives researchers and nerds like me a giant hardon. Admittedly, they didn’t put it in exactly those terms but that’s the gist of it.

So here’s my recommendation, strength/power athletes should aim for 1.5 g/lb protein per day (again, this is about 3.3 g/kg for the metrically inclined). So for a 200 lb strength/power athlete, that’s 300 grams of protein per day. For a 300 lber, that’s 450 grams per day. If you’re Jeff Lewis, I imagine your protein requirements are basically ‘All of it’ or perhaps ‘A cow’. Per day.

Since most strength/power athletes have plenty high caloric requirements, this will still leave plenty of room for the other macros and, if nothing else, will ensure that protein intake is not limiting in any way. I’d note that female athletes often restrict calories heavily (for both good and bad reasons) and it is possible for them to get into situations where protein ends up making up damn near all of their daily food intake. There is some evidence that female athletes can get by with less protein but I’m not going to get into that here; perhaps a later article for Elite Fitness can address that.

I’d add that athletes who are using anabolics may wish to take this even higher, 2 g/lb (4.4 g/kg) or possibly higher. Again, very little research here.

I should address one other issue that always seems to come up about now which is whether to set protein requirements relative to lean body mass or total weight. There are some good arguments for both. In theory, using lean body mass probably makes the most sense, fat cells don’t have a huge protein requirement. At the same time, problems in measuring LBM and the fact that a little bit too much protein is arguably superior to too little make total bodyweight more tenable. Or at least easier to use. I’d only note that, for athletes carrying tremendous amounts of body fat (you know who you are), scaling protein intake back to take that into account may no be a bad idea. It may not be necessary but it can still be done.

More Protein Issues

Having looked at the issue of quantity, I want to talk briefly about issues of quality and variety. Frankly, the whole deal with protein quality has been blown way out of proportion by most folks. Unless you’re talking about folks eating small amounts of single shitty quality proteins every day, it’s just not that relevant. So yeah, for someone getting 30 grams of some piss quality grain as their only protein source, quality matters.

When an athlete is eating 1.5 g/lb or more of high quality (read: animal source) proteins per day, it really doesn’t. Now, yes, there are differences between proteins in terms of digestion speed (which is relevant for around workout nutrition) and other micronutrients (e.g. red meat has lots of zinc and iron, fatty fish has fish oils, etc.), amino acid can vary too (e.g. dairy proteins have more leucine than other sources) but unless you live on that one source, it’s just not that critical an issue to worry about most of the time. Rather, I recommend that strength/power athletes try to obtain their daily protein from mixed sources every day. That way, any potential limitation of one protein will be fixed by the consumption of another protein. As well, although there isn’t much research to base this on, I feel that consuming different protein sources at a given meal may be superior to single sources. You’re getting slightly different amino acid patterns, digestion speeds, etc. You’ll see this reflected in the sample menus below.

Of course, protein powders are always an option. I think they tend to have their greatest utility around training but they can be used for athletes on the go, or who are working endlessly during the day and who need to get protein in large amounts quickly. For various reasons (discussed, of course, in my book), I prefer milk protein isolate (a mix of whey and casein) for most applications. Fast digesting proteins such as whey are most appropriate before or during training (I prefer MPI post-workout).

Putting it to Use

So with that as a background, I want to present two sample meal plans, focusing only on protein intake for the two example lifters I used above. One plan is based around 300 grams of protein per day, the other around 450 grams of protein per day. Although I didn’t touch on meal frequency in this article, athletes with large food intakes generally need to split their meals up so I’ll be using a 5-6 meal/day frequency in the examples below. Each meal below contains either 50 grams of protein (left column) or 75 grams of protein (right column).

I want to make it clear that I didn’t present these meals in any order of importance, nor should readers simply do these meal plans without thinking about it. Rather, I wanted to show lifters how they could achieve the kinds of protein intakes I discussed above in a practical manner. Of course, bigger and smaller athletes can scale the numbers up or down (or add additional meals) as needed to hit their targets.

Let me make it clear that the above are purely examples of the types and amounts of food that athletes could eat to reach the protein intakes listed above. There obviously other good sources of protein and athletes requiring less protein on a daily basis would scale the amounts downwards.

The debate over protein requirements has gone on for nearly 3 decades with no sign of stopping. Research exists on both sides of the debate and athletes and coaches are left wondering who’s right. Well, I am. The Protein Book takes a detailed look at the science behind protein requirements for athletes and provides specific, evidence-based recommendations based on the most current scientific evidence.

A research study entitled “Acute and Long-term effects of resistance exercise with or without protein ingestion on muscle hypertrophy and gene expression” by Juha Hulmi and sponsored by the Finnish Ministry of Education used 31 subjects – all novice heavy lifters – to examine the effects of timed ingestion of high quality protein before and after resistance training.

Here is the abstract:

Acute and long-term effects of resistance exercise with or without protein ingestion on muscle hypertrophy and gene expression.

Hulmi JJ, Kovanen V, Selänne H, Kraemer WJ, Häkkinen K, Mero AA.
Department of Biology of Physical Activity, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, 40014, Jyväskylä, Finland, juha.hulmi@sport.jyu.fi.
The effects of timed ingestion of high-quality protein before and after resistance exercise are not well known. In this study, young men were randomized to protein (n = 11), placebo (n = 10) and control (n = 10) groups. Muscle cross-sectional area by MRI and muscle forces were analyzed before and after 21 weeks of either heavy resistance training (RT) or control period. Muscle biopsies were taken before, and 1 and 48 h after 5 x 10 repetition leg press exercise (RE) as well as 21 weeks after RT. Protein (15 g of whey both before and after exercise) or non-energetic placebo were provided to subjects in the context of both single RE bout (acute responses) as well as each RE workout twice a week throughout the 21-week-RT. Protein intake increased (P </= 0.05) RT-induced muscle cross-sectional area enlargement and cell-cycle kinase cdk2 mRNA expression in the vastus lateralis muscle suggesting higher proliferating cell activation response with protein supplementation. Moreover, protein intake seemed to prevent 1 h post-RE decrease in myostatin and myogenin mRNA expression but did not affect activin receptor IIb, p21, FLRG, MAFbx or MyoD expression. In conclusion, protein intake close to resistance exercise workout may alter mRNA expression in a manner advantageous for muscle hypertrophy.

Men’s Health has actually just picked up on this study and is reporting that people who drank whey before and after workouts produced more cdk2 than those who took placebos and that cdk2 signals your muscles to produce more stem cells, which aid in the process of building muscle.

It’s interesting in that my understanding up to this point was that the role of protein was in recovery. Clearly, more research is needed, but what are your thoughts in regards to protein altering gene expression and positively impacting muscle hypertrophy?

Absolutely it does and I dedicated 35 pages of The Protein book to around workout nutrition (pre/during/post) including some discussion of what literature was available at the time on the topic and gene expression.

I really appreciate the articles that you have put out, I am learning alot, and will definetly buy your book to read over the summer. However, reading the two tables for meal recommendations, I am really confused if they just recommend what to eat to get the right amount of protien or if they are decent recommendations of what to eat in general, to get the right amount of carbohydrates and fat as well.

Those charts only cover protein, not the other macronutrients. Just showing, in real world food terms how to hit those values.

Lyle

Dave S. on
July 24th, 2009 2:52 pm

It is incorrect to assert that high protein intake does not have detrimental effects. In fact a number of recent studies have shown that low protein intake appears to show benefits to biomarkers associated with longevity, such as IGF-1 levels. It’s too early to tell whether the single amino acid, methionine, is to blame for cutting your life shorter than it possibly could be with much less protein. Keep an eye on the journals!

And if this article had been about protein requirements and health rather than protein requirements FOR ATHLETES, that might matter.

Dave S. on
July 27th, 2009 2:50 pm

It may be possible to have the best of both worlds: Pro natural bodybuilder and nutrition expert Joe Klemczewski, as a case study for his dissertation, dropped to 75 grams of protein/day for 6 months while dieting for a contest. He was surprised to find that he actually gained some lean muscle mass on such a low protein diet. Perhaps the average athlete cannot and should not go quite so low as this (about 0.5 grams per pound of bodyweight!) — and Dr. Joe certainly recommends consuming significantly more as a buffer/insurance. But given the indications on low protein consumption and improved longevity, perhaps even athletes should shun high-protein diets, particularly if that excess protein really isn’t beneficial even for muscle growth/retention. Just a thought — I respect your work too.

Interesting. I’d cut that recommendations to half (150 and 225). Currently I believe what I read somewhere (in a book of a sports expert) that somehow human kidneys can at most process 40g of protein within 4 hours. With a safety margin that would be 30 g x 6 (24 hours divided by 4 hours) = 180 g maximum daily protein intake as a rough estimate. Given the fact that natural protein food (meat, eggs etc) also contain harmful substances it would – aside from the digestive burden – seem that the kidneys may have some extra work to do (that is in contrast with filtered and hence more pure protein powders).

L on
March 6th, 2014 11:16 am

This controversy (how much protein active individuals need) is reviewed in a recent journal article that is easy to read. It is published in a very well regarded journal: Nutrition Research Review, Volume 25, pages 142-129, 2012.

[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The poster sent us ‘0 which is not a hashcash value.

Patje on
July 21st, 2014 10:30 am

Lyle higher protein intake won’t hurt an athlete? What if it limited the carbohydrate consumption and the extra protein led to zero extra muscle gains?? Possibly your worst recommendation ever.

“As long as eating lots of protein doesn’t keep an athlete from eating too few of the other nutrients (carbs/fats), there’s no reason to not eat a lot. And there may be benefits.”

Possibly your worst reading comprehension EVER.

Patje on
July 26th, 2014 9:35 am

It’s not a question of too few carbs. If you’re eating more protein than is needed for ‘optimal’ muscle gains, the extra protein WILL limit carb consumption and thus lead to decreased performance in the gym compared to somebody eating just enough protein and maximizing their carb intake.

Troy on
December 4th, 2014 8:52 am

Lyle, thanks for your wealth of knowledge and information. You always put things in a very clear and concise way.

Just at a glance (and unless this was precisely meant as it’s written already), you mentioned above in regards to protein intake that:

“Muscle magazines, usually with a vested interest in moving protein powder tend to promote high protein intakes with claims of athletes eating 800-1000 grams protein per day (a level only achievable with supplementation) being claimed by top bodybuilders.”

Is this statement supposed to read 800-1000 calories from protein (or 200-250 grams)? Or are muscle magazines actually sprouting numbers this ridiculously high? Given the satiety of protein wouldn’t it be exceptionally difficult nearing on impossible to consume nearly one kilogram of protein per day if this is correct?

Thanks for everything you contribute, your site is one of my key references.

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It’s been a while since I wrote this but it wasn’t uncommon at one point to see muscle magazines suggesting truly ludicrous amounts of protein, maybe not 800-1000 grams but certainly in the 400-500 gram per day range.

Troy on
December 8th, 2014 6:24 pm

Thanks for clearing that up Lyle.

Knowing what those magazines do also in their ‘one size fits all’ method it’s incredible to think that they’d recommend half a kilogram from protein alone per day for some guys weighing no more than 65 kilograms and then do the same thing for a guy weighing 120 kilograms (sorry for the metrics, I’m a follower from Australia), generic marketing at it’s best.

Cheers mate.

Dave on
May 29th, 2015 4:58 am

How I am supposed to be able to stick to a meal plan like this during a normal, working, day?
I can’t just stop work, and go and eat every 2-3 hours!! Often times, I have to work for 4-5 hours at a stretch before I can take a break. So plans like this become totally unworkable.

Dave on
May 29th, 2015 5:04 am

PS to my last.
Where are all of my fruits and veggies in this diet plan?? How can these be balanced diets?

Dave, this article is about PROTEIN. Protein. Fruits and vegetables fit under carbohydrates

Smnbajwa on
July 1st, 2015 7:36 am

How did you come up with 1.5g/lb or 3.3g/kg figure? Study by Helms et al. indicated that when on a caloric deficit 2.3 to 3.1g per kg of FFM is enough. On what basis are you recommending 3.3g/kg to every strength athlete?

Since this article was written, has there been any new info on a suggested amount for enhanced athletes? As in should you eat less because you don’t need as much, or should you eat more to maximize protein synthesis? I believe I saw you talking about it on Facebook recently, and i thought you said you’d written about it recently but I can’t find it anywhere.

I can’t recall ever seeing work on the protein requirements of enhanced athletes. The typical empirical recommendation is up to 2 g/lb lean body mass and given that enhancements increase protein synthesis around the clock, I can see the logic of eating more. I’m aware of no research that controlled for it.

Edward on
July 24th, 2015 7:16 am

Yesterday I read a four year-old review by Kevin Tipton and it seems he has changed his recommendations for athletes from the 2.5-3.0 g/kg figure stated in his 2004 paper.

“There is little support for the necessity of very high amounts, e.g. >2 g protein/kg body mass per d, for optimal muscle hypertrophy during energy balance or excess.”

“In most cases, there seems to be little, if any, rationale for protein intakes above the habitual norm of 1·5–2·0 g protein/kg body mass per d.”

It’s an interesting review which touches on both sides of the argument, including the idea of consuming high-protein diets for optimum recovery, immune function and performance.